Back to Work

This has been my most physically active weekend in about a month. In both our softball games on Friday I played catcher which proved to be very strenuous on the quad muscles. Saturday evening I had my first lesson on Amber in what seems like forever and as a result my calf and shoulder muscles join my aching quadriceps. It's a good thing that my physical activity restriction is lifted in 2 days. I can't wait to go all out!

Amber was exceeding good in our lesson. She trots so nicely now. What a relief! I can't say I miss fighting over the trotting speed. After 15 minutes of war I would be completely exhausted and my hands would be raw even through my gloves. Now I feel as though we could trot all day. And then we cantered...fast!! There is truly nothing like riding a horse at his or her "all-out" speed. I've only done that a few times in my life. I would consider it my ultimate adrenaline rush. Amber has a very big canter stride and she tends to pound the ground. If I give her too strong of a cue she goes really fast. If my cue isn't strong enough she just trots faster before finally moving into a canter. Anyways, I cued too strongly and she moved into a very eager canter. So I said screw the canter and crouched flat over her neck on the long end of the arena. It's about 3-4 strides of gallop before we get to the short end and I used every bit of it. Problem is, she learns she can pick up a lot of speed on the long end and she goes faster instead of settling in to a nice canter. But it feels awesome and I tell myself it tires her out a tiny bit.

Once we got the canter "under control" we worked through a grid of ground poles. I say under control with quotations because a lot of the time it feels like we are barely controlled - hence the sore shoulders. I need to have a shorter inside rein so I can make a better approach without overbending into the corner. Sometimes steering Amber is like steering a big rig. Hopefully our bending exercises will help. The flying lead changes were not as sharp either. She was very content to canter counter-clockwise on the wrong lead for a good lap and a half. My trying to change her lead only resulted in a faster canter. We did the grid several times and the thing I love most about this horse is that she doesn't quit. If she gets tired she doesn't act like she is tired. Thoroughbreds may have small brains, but they have the biggest hearts.

Between now and the next lesson, I plan to continue working on bending exercises, trotting over poles, and cantering through the grid. Tomorrow I'm getting a massage.